Soil CD Review
On their third release, Chicago metal band Soil try to overcome losing their record deal and their singer.
Ryan McCombs made a very puzzling/odd/hilarious career decision when he decided to leave Soil (for “family reasons”) and join Drowning Pool. Isn’t that like leaving O-Town and joining 98 Degrees? Anyway, feelings were hurt, words were exchanged, and Soil picked up vocalist A.J. Cavalier and vowed to make their best record yet. That isn’t saying a lot when you consider the run-of-the-mill metal/heavy rock of Redefine and Scars, but those at least had a *few* moments.
True Self doesn’t.
McCombs has a muscular voice while Cavalier is a sing/growl guy who sounds like he could have been the vocalist in any number of baseball-cap wearing nu-metal bands from the early 2000s. But you can’t blame the new guy for this collection of lifeless songs. Cavalier is actually the perfect substitute because drivel like “Jaded,” “Let Go,” and everything else here is so generic it’s the ideal vehicle for his anonymous delivery.
Soil’s goal with True Self was to march on and prove they don’t need their former singer. And truth be told, McCombs, or almost any other frontman, couldn’t have done a damn thing to help this album. Mission accomplished?
— Trevor Fisher
